Happy Birthday To Me....

...and my brother....and my brother's niece (and Jeremy Johnson from Yankton!)

39...one more year to the big Four-Oh! Which pales in comparison to the fact that my brother turned 50 today. Kim (brother's niece) turned 28 today: That's right we are all 11 years apart in some weird twist of fate.

My brother has to be one of the "youngest" fifty year olds you will ever meet. He knows the words to about ever rock song out there today and is still as active has his body will let him be. If I could only get him into cycling I think he would love it, but the hours in his day are a little more limited than mine with owning the Pub on top of being a mechanic all day. It would be awesome to get him out there though. So if you happen to read this big bro...think about it :-)

We are planning to head up to the Pub tonight with my other bother as well to the "World Famous" Irish Pub Friday Night Fish Fry. Of course, there is also that chance that we will be partaking our version of American Idol with the Pub's Karaoke system. If that doesn't scare everybody away, nothing will. At any rate, it will be fun to be together with the fam...eatin' fish!

The Jinx is on...

I finally did it. After a snow just a week ago, I have now officially removed the studded snow tires on my bike and put on my Hutchinson Spiders. Any takers on if it will snow soon???

The Coffee Button

Parents, you all have those "adorable" moments with your children, especially when they are small. My latest installment of a moment like this concerns "The Coffee Button". This has been going on for some time, but lately it has come to be a source of even greater excitement for Carson.

First, a step back as I explain what "the coffee button" is. I have a little grinder for my coffee and a seperate cappuccino maker. For the past few months, when he's avaialable, Carson comes running when I ask him to push "the coffee button" on my grinder. He will drop whatever he is doing and in any part of the house for this honor. It's his moment as a big boy to be able to help Dad. Well, a couple days ago he was awake and I forgot to ask him to push the button. He was crushed when he came running to the sound of the grinder to say the least. I had to pick him up and hold him while I made the latte. He never cried, but the pout spoke volumes about how he felt. I put him on the stove while I steamed the milk and afterward I wiped off the thermometer and had Carson put it away.

It's amazing how something so simple is such a big moment for a 2.5 year old. Of course now he has a second "job" to do putting the thermometer away, but it will be a while before I forget the hurt I caused by forgetting the importance of "the coffee button".

EOM Story Hits www.usd.edu

Boast of the day: My Employee of the Month Story finally hit the USD Website. Who knows, one of these days I may even put my award on the wall!

There are Challenges and then there are CHALLENGES

I fathom myself as being in pretty good shape. Even as I approach 39 I still like to compete (within my limits) and like to push things to the limit on occasion. But, when does a challenge become more than just a challenge? I made the comment to my friend Joe that we really need to get a 200 mile bicycle ride in this summer. To make it easier, I even made the comment, we should pick a wind-aided 200 mile one way ride. Then, in came an email from my friend Melissa about a charity ride/race across South Dakota.

A charity RACE? Okay, I'll bite...how exciting could a charity race be? Well, it's a ride/race so you don't HAVE to race it. I know what you are thinking: Yeah right..ME NOT actually RACE given the opportunity. This time, I truly don't think I would race for the simple fact that I am not even sure how to train for something like this. I'm all about giving this a shot, but race, I don't think so. Oh yeah, I suppose I should give you details after all this mystery.

Website: Hwy 212 "Gut Check" - Endurance Race Across South Dakota

The reason for this race is to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. For information regarding these diseases please visit the “Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America” website: www.ccfa.org. The CCFA is a non-profit, volunteer driven organization.

Start: Hwy 212 @ SD/WY border Finish: Hwy 212 @ SD/MN border

Start time: Friday August 18th @ 4 p.m. MT Cut Off: Sunday Aug. 20th @ 5 p.m. CT

Distance: 412 miles Time Limit: 48 hours

Relay Information:

2 Person Relay: Exchange in Gettysburg

Rider 1: SD/WY Border to Gettysburg = 226 miles
Rider 2: Gettysburg to SD/MN Border 186 miles

4 Person Relay:
Exchange 1: Faith Rider 1: SD/WY Border to Faith = 113 miles
Exchange 2: Gettysburg Rider 2: Faith to Gettysburg = 112 miles
Exchange 3: Redfield Rider 3: Gettysburg to Redfield = 81 miles
Rider 4: Redfield to SD/MN Border = 106 miles

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about attempting this challenge. I'm not so fond about the fact that it is completely unsupported except for personal SAGs. I would really love to support an effort for a ride/race like this, but then there is the whole "personal safety" issue.

I don't often ask for comments on my posts, but I need to know if Joe and I (sorry Joe, had to include you on this one) are sane for thinking about doing 412 miles in 48 hours.

Is a Garage REALLY for a vehicle?

Tonight I spent much of the evening attempting to rearrange stuff so I can better fit my biking entourage in the garage. Understand, for those of you who don't know, I have a SINGLE car garage. Here is what I'm currently attempting to fit into it:

Kevin's Mountain Bike
Kevin's Road Bike #1
Kevin's Road Bike #2
Laura's Hybrid
Austin's Kid-sized bike
Austin's Road Bike
Marissa's Mountain Bike
Marissa's Kid-sized bike
Marrisa's older Kid-Sized Bike that we are going to give away
Carson's Tricycle
One Trail-a-bike
One Pull behind Trek kid trailer
One Pull behind Burley Flatbed trailer

Do you see any slight issue that I might have here? Not to mention that I still have to fit a Ford Windstar and the usual array of "garage attire" in there as well. At this point, it's still a work in progress, but everything is at least looking like it JUST MIGHT FIT. Of course, there is that issue about needing to get out of the van when we park it. Eh, Dukes of Hazzard window climbs!!!

Did I mention the very real possibility of getting a tandem?

Love/Hate Relationship with my Garmin 301

Okay, I admit that I've only had very few issues with my Garmin 301 which I love VERY much. However, the other night I went out for a EASY run as I wanted to do six miles without stopping. With the GPS features, I like to just run where ever I want and it tells me how far I go. If you look at the two pictures above, I was upset to see that it missed AT LEAST a half mile where it lost the satellites. I know I am slow at the moment, but I'm PRETTY DARN SURE that I can run .01 miles in under four minutes! I was quite disappointed with my Garmin indeed. I will attempt the same route again soon to give it a second chance to redeem itself!

Free Massages for Life!!

Ah...let's hope that it's true. Laura started Massage Therapy School last night. She did a good job with massages before, here is a toast to new and improved massages in the future!

USD March 2006 Employee of the Month

Today at work I was named University of South Dakota March 2006 Employee of the Month. A pretty neat honor if I do say so myself. The ladies at the Physicians Assistant program put me in for the honor which now endears me to them even more than the fact they make my coffee every morning! There was a great showing of fellow employees at the reception which was really cool. I'll update later with a link to the USD website story when they post it.

I also put my EOM Parking Spot up for sell on eBay since I REALLY don't need a parking spot for my bike (99% of the time). For as long as the link lasts, the EOM parking spot on eBay can be found by clicking here. I put it on eBay as a way to raise funds for the Welcome Table here in Vermillion.

UPDATE: The EOM parking permit went for $30. The Welcome Table will be most pleased with the donation! Thanks Wendy and Janet!